An Energy-Saving Regulation Framework of Central Air Conditioning Based on Cloud–Edge–Device Architecture

Abstract

As energy plays a fundamental role in our modern life and most of a building’s energy is used for air conditioning, understanding the sustainable regulation theory of central air conditioning remains a significant scientific issue. In view of three shortcomings of existing energy-saving regulation methods of central air conditioning: (1) few studies on low-latency, high-reliability, and safer energy-saving control operation modes, (2) lack of consideration for human comfort, and (3) insufficient analysis of the comprehensive impact of the human–machine–environment, this paper proposes an energy-saving control framework of central air conditioning based on cloud–edge–device architecture. The framework establishes a prediction model of human comfort based on recurrent neural network. An intelligent energy-saving control strategy is proposed to ensure indoor personnel’s thermal comfort, considering the human–machine–environment factors. This study provides a basis for better understanding the sustainable control theory of building central air conditioning. Finally, the experiment proves that the proposed method can effectively reduce the energy consumption of central air conditioning. Compared with traditional regulation approaches, the proposed real-time control strategy can save up to 91% of energy consumption, depending on the environment, and advance control strategies can save an average of 4%.